Peter Cutler

Peter Cutler

Peter Cutler is an internationally acclaimed artist, photographer and film director. At the young age of 20, he won Nikon Camera's prestigious international photography contest. Shows at leading galleries and art and photography magazines soon followed. Over the next 40 years he developed a successful career as a leading commercial artist, photographer and film director, winning over 150 international awards.

After 20 years of meditation and spiritual practice, a profound spiritual awakening led him to leave the world of commercial art behind, become a Zen monk and devote his life to awakening others through his spiritual teaching and art. As he readily acknowledges, this art flows through him, not from him. The art is "gifted" to him to make Spirit (the invisible, formless) visible in the world of form for the benefit of all beings.

Peter finds the spiritual transmission that occurs in his teaching and writing appears as much or more so in the paintings themselves. As they use very little or no words, the transmissions can be more clear as they are not obstructed by the interpretation of words or thoughts. Sit with a painting for a while in silence and you will experience this. In Zen we call the spiritual aspects of art and calligraphy "hitsuzendo".

The small red "chop" or seal you see on the bottom right of most paintings is the Dharma Name given to Peter by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. The English translation is True Virtue.

More of his paintings, videos, books and his unique teaching approach can all be found at https://n-lightenment.com.